Tory Councillor Arrested In Front Of His Children In Bogus ‘Hate Crime Probe’

After posting a video critiquing the way the police handled the wrongful arrest of a Christian street preacher, a councillor from the Conservative party was detained and accused of committing a hate crime.

Anthony Stevens, a Conservative councillor from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, told The Telegraph that he was detained at his house earlier this month, in front of his shocked children, and escorted to a police station to answer questions over posts from his personal Twitter account.

One of the ‘offending’ posts in question concerned the detainment of Christian preacher Oluwole Ilisanmi.

The arrest of Ilesanmi in Southgate, London, in 2019 was depicted in a video that Cllr Stevens tweeted about in May of this year, after it had been posted by far-right political group ‘Britain First’, who are renowned for posting old clips of controversial events and presenting them as having recently taken place.

During the 2019 incident, a police officer took away Mr Ilisanmi’s Bible after the preacher was accused of being Islamophobic – but the Christian fanatic later received £2,500 for wrongful arrest.

The video also showed footage of a police officer saying that a Muslim preacher was permitted to preach on a high street.

Cllr Stevens, a member of Wellingborough Town Council, said he was told by the officers that the original tweet he had shared had been posted by a member of Britain First.

Cllr Stevens said he was unaware of this and had no idea who the party Britain First were and that he shared the post as ‘disturbing evidence of religious discrimination in law enforcement’.

Police also bizarrely questioned why Stevens had tweeted his support for fellow Northamptonshire Tory councillor Cllr King Lawal.

In July of this year, Cllr Lawal was suspended from the Conservative Party for criticising homosexuality, specifically gay Pride events.

Police arresting Oluwole Ilisanmi. An officer snatched Mr Ilisanmi’s Bible after the preacher was accused of being Islamophobic and he later received £2,500 for wrongful arrest.

Responding to images of pride parades organised by LGBT groups at the end of last month, Northamptonshire Councillor King Lawal, who claims he has since been ‘cancelled’ by six organisations, wrote: “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you. #PrideMonth #Pride23 #PrideParade.’”

The post included an image with a verse from Isaiah 3 verse 9, which said: “Whatever God calls ‘Sin’ is nothing to be Proud of.”

31-year-old Lawal said that soon after posting the tweet he was suspended by the local Conservative group and was forced to resign from his job at a nursing home. Cllr Lawal was also removed as a trustee from an organisation that helps children get access to green spaces and suspended as an academy council member for Weavers Academy, a state secondary school in Wellingborough, Northants.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Lawal said: “As the only black councillor in the whole of Northamptonshire, I know what it is like to be in the minority, and I would never discriminate against anyone. I have diligently represented all my constituents; however, I must also be free to express my beliefs without fear.”

Cllr Stevens said that he told officers that he is a ‘free speech absolutist’ and believes people have a right to express their beliefs.

Cllr Stevens said he was then asked if he agreed with Lawal’s tweet criticising LGBT events, to which he responded that ‘it did not matter whether he agreed with what he said or not, he believed he had the right to say it without having his life torn apart’.

Making further unnecessary intrusions, officers then inquired about a video shared by Cllr Stevens on his Twitter account that showed footage of a man burning a copy of the Koran.

Cllr Stevens said his post reflected his view that that burning a copy of the Koran was part of a person’s ‘right to free speech in a free society’.

Cllr Stevens claims that a local Labour Party member had reported him to the police, seemingly in a politically-motivated bid to exploit excessive hate crime laws to burden a rival.

Stevens was arrested for the alleged hate crime in front of his stunned family, including his teenage daughters, and has since been bailed.

He is now receiving support from the Christian Legal Centre and is planning to make a complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

VoteWatch will provide an update in due course.